It’s been brought to my attention recently that I haven’t updated my blog in a while. Yes. That’s true. Sorry about that. I like to think, though, that as excuses go, I’ve got the best possible one an author could hope to present, which is that every time I think about making a post to the website, I think, “You know, I could use this time to either talk about writing the book or I could…you know…write the book.”

So, progress report: The book is currently planned to have a total of 22 chapters. I’m working on number 19 today, so I’m getting very close to a completed first draft. Oh yeah, there’s the epilogue, too. Can’t do fantasy properly without an an epilogue.

Then, there’s the second draft. A lot of the chapters have already had two drafts, so that shouldn’t take more than a month or so. Then, there’s the third draft the fourth, and probably a few more. At some point, then, it needs to go out for editorial review, and then there’s one more draft. And probably a couple of rewrites.

I know, I know: if you do the math, it looks like the book’s completion is still a long way off. It’s not quite true, though. You know that thing where you know you’re reading a really good book, or watching a really good movie, because you can feel that momentum building? It was slow and methodical when it started out…interesting, but moving at no more than a quick walk. Then, before you realized you’d moved into act 2, you were moving at a canter, and you’re starting to have a little trouble putting it down, turning your light out, and going to bed. Then, you’re getting to the end, and you’re galloping through the pages, and you end up finishing the whole thing in one long weekend.

Well, I’ve discovered writing to work in much the same way. One keeps having to move very slowly at first: lots of details to keep in mind, and lots of character motivations needing to play off each other, and so many different and re-drafted ideas of how the story is meant to go that you keep having to look back at the notes to remember which version you eventually settled on. It’s slow and methodical. Well, here I am, rapidly reaching the conclusion, and I’m giddily watching as my fingers dance along the keyboard between Underground stations. Momentum’s a thing that I often find really hard to come by, but it feels really, really good when it finally shows up.

So, when’s the book coming out? Well, it’s still going to be this year, but I’m going to be aiming for a November/December timeframe. There’s the unknown factor of how long the editorial review process is going to take, in the end. A lot of it, too, is going to depend on the cover art, and how long that takes. I did it myself the first time; I’m going to see about getting a professional (or, at least, non-me) to sort it out this time. That should be an interesting conversation, right? “Make it good, but make it also fit in with that other cover that the amateur did.” Can’t wait. 🙂